Return to sender: Williamstown’s James Wall smacks the ball back in the direction it came from at a boundary throw-in. Picture: Michael Copp
WILLIAMSTOWN staved off a late challenge from the Bendigo Gold to hold on for a 12-point elimination final win in the Victorian Football League at North Port Oval on Saturday.
The Seagulls were seemingly in cruise control holding a 30-point lead going into the three-quarter-time break, but had to endure a tight finish with the Gold refusing to accept defeat.
‘‘There was a bit of tension and a bit of apprehension,’’ Seagulls assistant coach Andrew Mirams told the Weekly.
‘‘That’s because we kept leaving the door open.’’
The Seagulls now take to the road for a cutthroat semi-final clash with minor premiers Casey Scorpions at Casey Fields on Saturday.
All the key performance indicators suggested a comfortable victory for the Seagulls last weekend.
But their inability to slam the door shut on the persistent Gold made for a grandstand finish.
It also led to fluctuations on the scoreboard throughout the game.
The Gold opened up a 22 points to two lead at quarter-time, but Mirams was adamant his side was on par in that opening term.
‘‘We had 13 inside 50s to 12 in the first quarter,’’ Mirams said.
‘‘We had as much of the play, but were terribly inefficient, kicked into the man on the mark and just made some dumb errors.’’
The schoolboy mistakes abated for the next hour.
The Seagulls carved out a healthy lead, booting 10 of the next 13 goals, but it was not an unassailable as their true dominance was not reflected on the scoreboard.
‘‘All the statistics pointed to us beating them and beating them well,’’
Mirams said.
‘‘We just didn’t put the score on the board when it mattered and let them off the hook.
‘‘You leave the door open in finals and funny things can happen.’’
There was not a lot to smile about in the Seagulls coaches box in the last term.
The Gold got back to within five points and had all of the momentum.
That was until a dodgy kick-in presented Seagulls forward Patrick Veszpremi with an opportunity to seal the game deep into time-on and he made no mistake.
It was a young line-up the Seagulls put out on the field with 17 VFL-listed players and an average age of 21.
They still had a sprinkling of experience to draw upon with Ben Jolley, Brett Goodes and James Wall having a big impact.
‘‘Our leaders stood up and dragged the group along,’’ Mirams said.
‘‘When the ball ends up in your leaders hands, you get better results and get better decisions.
‘‘Our efficiency came when the ball got in the hands of our better players.’’
Like they have all season, the youngsters had to play their part too.
The defensive work of Steven Witkowski, Jack Frost and Jack Charleston was tremendous.
In other news, Williamstown has claimed the VFL’s club champion award, the Gilchrist Trophy, for a ninth time since 1952.
The AFL Victoria award is decided by the number of combined wins by the senior and development sides during the home and away season, with eight points awarded for a senior win and four points for a development league win.
The Seagulls finished with 164 points, ahead of Casey Scorpions (152), Werribee Tigers (140) and Port Melbourne (128).
Werribee midfielder Ben Ross has taken home the VFL’s coveted JJ Liston Medal for best-and-fairest in the seniors with 20 votes.
The top-three Seagulls vote-getters were Jolley (12 votes), Wall (6) and Jamie McNamara (5).
